The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1887-04-07
"An experiment in profitable transgres-

ness, Sat III MS once III san francisco, Writ
ing dispatches to his brokers in New York
and Chicago when note was handed to
him BY messenger.
"Dear SIR" he read 81 approach You with
some hesitation, knowing perfectly the objection
which YOU will naturally have to entertaining
the proposition am about to make TO you. !
have no guarantee to offer you that approach
you in good faith, except the fact that can IN
no way be benefited by the experiment which
propose TO make. unless 1t is absolutely what II
pretends to be. have made a great discovery,
which will dyulge to you on certain conditions,
Il you will grant me an interview OF not lcss
than half an hour Yours respectfully,
"HEiNRICH WACHTMEISTER.
"Tell him to get out" said Mr.. Hardness
to the messenger, as he flung the letter into
the waste-paper basket. He scribbled on
for few minutes in silence, then leaned
over to consult the type upon which the
''ticler" behind him was printing the market
quotations. Suddenly his face frightened
'By jingor' he exclaimed; Union Pacific
at &c. That's two hundred thousand in my
pocket"
His humor was much improved by this
piece of good luck, and as he strobe through
the outer offices he felt the agreeable ex-
hilaration Of a man at peace with the world
When he was accosted at the door by a
round-shouldered, youugsh-looking man,
with blonde beard and spectacles. he did
not repeat his invitation to ''get out"
"Are you the fellow that wrote the
letter." he asked.
"With your permission. am" the young
man replied, with marked German accent
81 think you would find it to your own ad-
vantage not to refuse me the interview"
"All right: come in"
He turned around briskly and passed
through the ground glass door to the inner
Office. leaving the German to follow. Mr..
Hardness was. like most Of the bonanza
men of the Pacific coast, OF a sanguine and
adventurous temper, and but scantily
equipped with education. He was ready
for any thing in which there was money,
and no proposition in which money was in
volved was too daring for his consideration.
He was young and already twenty times a
millionaire. To his visitor he seemed the
very incarnation Of the hearty. generous,
slam-bang recklessness Of the Pacific coast
1t would have surprised him, no doubt. if
he had suspected that this specialized, un-
Notwithstanding foreigner had made n
complete inventory of his characteristics
from merely seeing him in the street and
from hearing the rumor Of his daring
maneuvers on the stock exchange.
''Well.n Hardness remarked, fire away.
I've got just fifteen minutes"
:
"Well, fire away. man. Time at this hour
of the day is worth thousand dollars a
minute"
"Al right. Then will be brief. My
name is Heinrich Wachtmeister. I was
two years ago tutor in chemistry at the uni
versity of Utrecht. In that capacity 1 was
led to make certain experiments which re-
suited in my discovering what thousands
have sought for in vain-the secret OF
making gold. You open your eyes, no
doubt. in wonder. So did /. The gold was
found in my possession, together with a
number of metallic plates and instruments,
which the stupid officials concluded were
| intended for counterfeiting. They would
not believe my story. OF course, that l
made the gold. For counterfeiting was
| accordingly tried and sentenced to two
years Imprisonment. l have just now
| served out my sentence
"You are jail-bird, then. It's pity
you didn't stay longer"
"Wait moment and you will see'
DIR. Wachtmester here entered upon a
I detailed explanation Of his chemical expert
| ments, declaring that gold had never been
proved to be an element, and that, If it was
compound, there was no reason why it
should not be made Science had solved
many riddles in modern times which to the
past were insoluble. He begged Mr.. Hark-
ness to grant him the privilege Of proving
| to him and five of his friends, whom Mr..
Hardness should himself appoint, that his
| statements were true. He asked for nc
salary or emoluments, but only desired to
| associate Mr.. Harkness' renowned name
| with his own in an enterprise which,
| il he carried it on alone, would OK
pose him to fresh difficulties with the
law. There was such ring of sincerity
and earnestness in his speech that the mill
| ionaire was more than half persuaded. He
declared that he would let him know in a
week whether he could grant his request
| and instantly cabled to Utrecht to ascertain
whether the story relating to the imprison.
ment and trial for counterfeiting were true
He received the next day cablegram cor
roborating the story in all particulars. A
second appointment was accordingly made
and the test, in the presence Of witnesses
| agreed upon. Wachtmeister begged as a
| favor that some Of these might be scientific
| experts, whose Judgment had weight. This
| too, was readily conceded.
The momentous day at last arrived. II
Harkness' Office half a dozen Of the million
| ares dependents were gathered, all pledged
W dUSOluIc ScCTcCss Ou Ihc pcuoity VI ioSlus
their patrons favor. Wachtmcister ar
rived at the appointed hour, carrying 9
starch-b box under his arm and followed by g
boy who carried small blast furnace
about the size Of q plumbers melting pot
He was introduced to each member of the
company among whom there was one who
had been induced to personate the scientific
expert. For Harkness, who, like most mer
| of his stamp, had small faith in scientists
| had concluded that such q one might
readily steal the secret (Which he was now
convinced was well worth stealing,) and
he had, for this reason, made, for the nonce
| a professor of chemistry out Of one Of his
clerks named Sawyer. Wachtmeisyer i'm
mediately engaged this gentleman III oon.
versation, and measured in en- instant, the
extent of his scientific requirements.
| The little Introductory speech which ht
made have not the space to repeat; but il
was very clever.
| "Now, gentlemen" he said in conclusion
81 must commit myself to your honor.
| beg Of you to examine carefully the con
tents of this box. You see that it contains
some black sand-a very common article
which is found in abundance round about
in the State. Here l hold in my hand {
small bottle of sulphate Of iron. I
But, pardon me! I came near forgetting
l merely wish to convince YOU that my pre-
cess is above e-board-with6ut suspicion O
fraud. You will not require Of me that
shall explain it to you"
He thereupon stepped behind q screel
and divested himself of all his clothes
which he handed out to the company, beg